Today, we compare Typeflow and Page Designer by Airtable. Both software allows Airtable users to generate PDFs. But what makes them different? Let's review both software.
Generate professional PDFs directly from Google Docs templates, in minutes – no tech skills needed.
Airtable has an extension, Page Designer, to manage document generation. But, it can be challenging to use, mainly when dealing with PDFs.
A solid PDF generation system is crucial to create invoices, quotes, and contracts.
While Airtable's page designer offers basic functionality, many users search for alternatives that better suit their needs.
Page Designer is Airtable's native solution for creating documents from your data. You can design templates that will pull information directly from your Airtable bases.
It helps create standardized documents like invoices or reports.
That's the obvious benefit of using Page Designer. You don't need to rely on another third-party integration. You can handle everything from Airtable.
Creating a template isn't complex with Page Designer. There are third-party solutions that are far more complex than Page Designer.
That's particularly useful when you use many of them, and getting access to a field from another table is crucial!
Airtable overlooks this, and users complain about it because, finally, the Airtable page designer makes them lose time.
It's kinda mind-boggling that this feature isn't available. I've spent a while creating templates using Page Designer only to find out I can't automate the PDF generation.
Rosa_Ramos, Airtable Community
Company Scenario:
* 200 monthly invoices needed
Current Process with Page Designer:
* 2-3 minutes per invoice for manual export
* ~6-10 hours monthly spent on manual work
* Additional time for file organization
* Risk of human error in naming and sorting
We talked about the different benefits of Airtable Page Designer. But when users need to use it daily, those benefits fade because of the limitations. Let me share some concrete issues.
First example
Page Designer is great for creating simple, single-page documents. I was able to create a basic invoice template in about 30 minutes.
Airtable Community Member
Success Case:
* Small business owner created standard invoice template
* Set up field mappings for customer details
* Implemented basic company branding
* Added table for line items
Limitation Found:
When I needed to add a second page for terms and conditions, I hit a wall.
Same user
Second Example
The native integration is what initially drew me to Page Designer. It pulls data perfectly from my base.
Reddit user
Implementation Example
Limitation found:
"But when we need to generate 50 property reports at once, we spend hours
Same Reddit users
Third Example
Now a testimony from a consultant expert in Airtable:
There are workarounds to this in some circumstances, but not all. The single-page limitation is a deal-breaker for many of our reports.
His use case:
Consulting Firm's Experience:
- Needed: Multi-page client reports
- Attempted Solution:
* Tried creating multiple single-page templates
* Attempted manual page combining
* Tested various workaroundsFinally they decided to use a third-party solution.
We eventually had to switch to a different solution entirely.
First example
What I'd like is to be able to click the button and for that document to be automatically downloaded and saved as a PDF file. Surely this must be possible?"
Airtable Community Member
Marketing Agency Workflow:
Needed:
- Automatic PDF generation from form submissions
- Direct save to Google Drive
- Automatic email to clients
- Update CRM status
Page Designer Reality:
- Manual PDF generation
- Manual download
- Manual upload to Drive
- Manual email sending
- Manual CRM updates
Second example
We could save to an attachment field using a template and Formstack integration, but there are a couple limitations. No table view for linked fields and Formstack pricing is based on the number of merges, which would start to add up quickly
Enterprise Requirements vs. Reality:
Needed:
- Digital signature integration
- Dynamic content based on conditions
- Complex calculations in templates
- Multi-table data relationships
Page Designer Limitations:
- No signature support
- Static content only
- Basic calculations only
- Limited relationship handling
Finally, we built this table to let you compare how automation can save time, particularly when you start generating a lot of documents.
These real-world feedback demonstrates why users often seek alternatives, especially when:
To conclude this part, here is the last sentence about Page Designer from ScottWorld the expert:
If you're new to Airtable, you'll soon discover that many of Airtable's features are half-complete like this. I often get visions of Airtable engineers who got bored halfway through creating something.
At Typeflow.us, we spotted all those inefficiencies. While many others solution exist in the market, they still lack some features. That's why we decided to build Typeflow. We think generating PDFs shouldn't be complex.
We built Typeflow around three principles:
Many users look for both. But not many companies offer them. Most companies limit the number of PDFs users can generate. Other companies don't provide the ability to automate flow. Finally, many create solutions that are hard to use if not familiar with tools like that.
Let's dive deep into Typeflow features.
- Volume of documents needed: Unlimited
Generating PDFs shouldn't give you a headache. Counting or checking if you need to be careful about the number of documents generated per month adds pressure to you. That's why we decided to remove this barrier.
- Automation requirements
Generating unlimited documents can take a lot of time if you need to do it by yourself. That's why we allow anyone to automate their flow when using Typeflow. It's doable to integrate it directly with Airtable Automation. So, the possibilities are infinite. Files, of course, are saved automatically and uploaded to Airtable.
- Budget constraints
We think generating PDFs shouldn't be expensive. That's why, for now, we decided to launch a lifetime plan. In the future, we plan to launch a monthly and annual plan, but no worries, it will be affordable.
- Accessibility
Most users know how to use Google Docs or Microsoft Word, so we decided to use Google Docs to create template. There is no need to learn another tool!
How to compare Airtable price with Typeflow
You don't need technical knowledge to use Typeflow. Let me show you how Typeflow works.
1. When you connect for the first time, you need to connect your Airtable.
2. Then, you select a new template. You can choose one of your Google Docs from your Google Drive. You can also start with one of the pre-built templates. When building your template, ensure you put variables/placeholders in place. We will use them to replace them with Airtable data to generate PDFs.
3. Select your Airtable base and table. Then, choose the field attachment for the PDFs.
4. If you use a date, you can choose how to format it.
5. Map your Google Docs variable to your Airtable data.
6. You can map data from another table if you have line items (or a loop in Typeflow).
7. Once you complete the mapping, you can generate a PDF for the test.
8. If it works well, copy the link to your Airtable base as a formula or button. You must click this formula or button to generate a PDF for each record.
Generate professional PDFs directly from Google Docs templates, in minutes – no tech skills needed.